Counties, cities hit with state mandates

Even as it cuts billions of dollars from state programs, Florida's cash-strapped Legislature has one trustworthy fount of money it can always turn to - local government.

Over the last seven years, state lawmakers have approved 471 "unfunded mandates" for local governments, basically ordering Florida's cities and counties to provide certain services without allocating any state resources to pay for them.

The estimated cost to municipalities this year: $1 billion. That includes the cost of programs such as state-mandated early voting, housing juveniles awaiting trial and the rent for offices used by the local legislative delegation.

Local officials, forced to cut spending last year by the Legislature and this year by voters' approval of a property tax amendment to the state constitution, say they're near the breaking point.

This year Broward County taxpayers will foot a $66 million bill for unfunded state mandates on county government - including $26.5 million for the courts.

Despite what lawmakers in Tallahassee may think, "I don't have a printing press in the basement of the Government Center that lets me print my own currency," said Broward County Commissioner Ilene Lieberman.

The unfunded mandate bill for Palm Beach County taxpayers: an estimated $49.4 million.

"We have a property tax crisis because we have been balancing the state budget on the backs of local property taxpayers," said Rep. Jack Seiler, D-Fort Lauderdale.

And the practice is not about to cease. During the current legislative session, which ends this week an additional 52 mandates are being debated that may end up becoming the responsibility of the cities and counties.

"It's a lot easier to spend from someone else's wallet than your own," said Cragin Mosteller, spokeswoman for the Florida Association of Counties.

Last year, for example, the Legislature ordered the creation of a public defender's "conflict counsel office." Counties were sent the bill for part of the cost of the new agency, which represents poor defendants when the public defender's office has a conflict of interest.

The estimated cost to Broward and Palm Beach counties from this single mandate: $800,000 each. "They go home and say they cut taxes," said Palm Beach County Commissioner Burt Aaronson. "They didn't cut taxes. They just passed the buck."

State law also requires counties to pay for a local office and staff, including an executive director and an aide, for legislative delegations. In 2008, that will cost Broward taxpayers $300,000, and the counterparts in Palm Beach County, $163,580.

Legislative leaders, however, point out that while cities and counties complain about the financial burden put on them by the state, they often forget to mention that they have benefited from billions of dollars in special projects - such as beach renourishment, sewer systems and swimming pools - that have been tucked into state budgets over the decades.

"Too often the counties and the state aren't talking the same language," said House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, who has at times jousted with the Palm Beach County Commission on the mandate issue.

"The counties want the state to give them tens of millions of dollars with no strings attached to fund their local projects, and the state wants the counties to share more of the cost of services without complaint."

Since 1978, the state has imposed almost 2,000 state directives on local governments, costing the latter a total of about $15 billion, according to Lance deHaven Smith, a professor of public administration at Florida State University who is conducting a long term study on the impact of mandates.

"It's been a lot of little bitty hits, but the Legislature hasn't been all that concerned about tracking it," deHaven Smith said.

Moreover, along with fixing in law new programs that municipalities must pay for, local officials complain the state is "cost shifting" many of its expenses: essentially handing them the bill for items the state used to pay for.

For instance, 10 years ago, the state paid 55 percent of the tab to run Florida's public schools while property taxpayers picked up the other 45 percent. Now the roles are reversed, with local taxpayers footing more than half the bill to run the state's K-12 education system.

This year, cities, counties and hospital districts are bracing to assume an even greater share of the fiscal load because of looming cutbacks in state spending.

Why, local officials ask, doesn't the state try harder to collect sales taxes on Internet sales, especially on Internet travel sellers, or close some sales tax exemptions?

"At some point in time, our local residents won't have the same services they now enjoy," Aaronson said. "If that's what the Legislature wants to do, nothing will stop them except the people who vote for the legislators."

But Hasner said now is not the time to be talking about higher taxes, especially when many Florida families are having to trim their spending just as the state is.

"Now's the time when we all need to be working together to help make Florida more affordable," he said.

Linda Kleindienst can be reached at lkleindienst@sun-sentinel.com or 850-224-6214.